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Ricardo Rodriguez
Rodriguez debuted for the WWE on the SmackDown brand on August 20, 2010, as the personal ring announcer to Alberto Del Rio. As well as being his personal ring announcer, Rodriguez would also try and help Del Rio win matches by distracting his opponents. On the January 4, 2011 episode of WWE NXT, Rodriguez would take Del Rio's place in a battle royal for the NXT Pros, but was quickly eliminated by R-Truth. On NXT, Rodriguez would feud with Del Rio's rookie, Conor O'Brian, after he claimed a rat problem. On the January 18 episode of NXT, Rodriguez and O'Brian brawled backstage, which would set up Rodriguez's first singles match in the WWE against O'Brian, in which Rodriguez would get the upset victory. After the match, O'Brian was eliminated from NXT. Del Rio gained a new rookie, Brodus Clay, after Clay won a match which allowed him to change his Pro. Del Rio passed Pro responsibilities of Clay to Rodriguez on the February 1 episode of NXT. In the season finale on March 1, Clay ended the competition in second place, losing to Johnny Curtis. At the 2011 WWE Draft, Rodriguez and Del Rio were drafted to the Raw brand; the duo clashed with Big Show when Rodriguez ran over Big Show's leg with Del Rio's car, kayfabe injuring him. Later that night, Del Rio placed the blame solely on Rodriguez. On his return to Raw on June 13, Big Show attacked Del Rio, and when Rodriguez came to his employer's aid he was brutally attacked instead, which caused him to take time off television for an injury angle. On July 18, Rodriguez returned to his duties as Del Rio's ring announcer. On the August 30 episode of SmackDown, when John Cena called out Del Rio, Rodriguez walked out alone to reply to Cena. Rodriguez spoke in a mixture of English and Spanish, explaining that Del Rio was not present. Cena then asked Rodriguez to deliver a message to Del Rio, and then promptly punched Rodriguez in the face. On the September 12 episode of Raw, Rodriguez would compete in his first match on the brand, teaming with Del Rio in a losing effort against John Cena and Bret Hart. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2011), Rodriguez tried to help Del Rio regain the WWE Championship during Del Rio's Triple Threat Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match. Rodriguez climbed to the top of a ladder in the ring to try to reach the WWE Championship hanging above the ring, but Del Rio's opponents, CM Punk and the Miz, tipped the ladder over such that Rodriguez fell out of the ring and crashed through a table at ringside. Rodriguez's fall was described by critics as dangerous and scary-looking, as well as "the major moment of the show". Fellow professional wrestler Mick Foley, well known for his participation in various dangerous matches, also commented that it was "one heck of a bump". On the January 9, 2012 episode of Raw, when Del Rio was absent, the Miz bullied Rodriguez into insulting and calling out R-Truth. R-Truth came out and made Rodriguez sing La Cucaracha. After that, R-Truth delivered his finisher to Rodriguez. At the 2012 Royal Rumble event, Rodriguez participated in the Royal Rumble match, entering at #8. He and Mick Foley eliminated Justin Gabriel, after which Rodriguez was eliminated by Santino Marella. On the April 20 episode of SmackDown, Rodriguez and Del Rio were traded to the SmackDown brand. On the May 21 episode of Raw, Santino Marella criticised Rodriguez's announcing and then he attacked Rodriguez with the Cobra. On the May 25 episode of SmackDown, Rodriguez challenged Marella to a match, but lost. On the June 8 episode of SmackDown, to tie in with Del Rio's feud with World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus, Rodriguez dressed up as Sheamus and mocked Sheamus' mannerisms. Rodriguez's portrayal of Sheamus was praised as very funny from critics and fans alike. On the June 11 episode of Raw, Rodriguez would continue his feud with Marella by teaming up with Beth Phoenix to beat Marella and Layla. After the match, Marella embarrassed Rodriguez by ripping off Rodriguez's shirt to reveal that Rodriguez was wearing a Justin Bieber T-shirt underneath. He would go on to lose his match against Santino Marella at No Way Out 2012. Also in 2012, Rodriguez started to compete as the masked luchador El Local, which remained distinct from his ring announcer character, debuting on the November 3 episode of Saturday Morning Slam in a loss to Sin Cara. On December 16 at TLC, Rodriguez came to the aid of the Spanish announce team, who were being heckled by 3MB (Drew McIntyre, Heath Slater, and Jinder Mahal). As 3MB turned on Rodriguez, Del Rio came to his aid, signalling a face turn for the duo. The turn was further cemented the next night at Raw in a similar situation as Rodriguez came to the aid of Tommy Dreamer, who was being assaulted by the Shield, but Rodriguez ended up being attacked himself. On the December 31, 2012 episode of Raw, Big Show was required to defend his World Heavyweight Championship that night and he picked Rodriguez as his opponent; as Rodriguez was about to lose the title match, Del Rio interfered and attacked Show, causing Rodriguez to lose via disqualification. At the beginning of 2013, he was attacked multiple times by Big Show and as a result of that, he sustained a (kayfabe) serious neck injury. On February 20, 2013 edition of NXT, Rodriguez returned to the ring as El Local, losing to Xavier Woods. On the March 18 episode of Raw, Rodriguez suffered a (kayfabe) broken ankle from Jack Swagger after Rodriguez tried to save Del Rio from Swagger's vicious assault. On the April 29 episode of Raw, Rodriguez defeated Zeb Colter and Big E Langston in a triple-threat match, giving Alberto Del Rio the right to choose the stipulation for the World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules. On the May 29th episode of Main Event, Ricardo became a commentator for the show alongside The Miz and Josh Matthews. On July 2, 2013, it was announced Rodriguez was suspended for 30 days for his first violation of the WWE Wellness Policy. He returned to television on August 5th. On the August 5th episode of Raw, Ricardo was attacked by Alberto Del Rio after he cost Del Rio a match against Rob Van Dam, showing signs of a face turn. On the 19th August edition of Raw, Ricardo Rodriguez returned with a new client which was Rob Van Dam. The next week on Raw, Rodriguez cost Del Rio a match against Van Dam, and as per match stipulation, Van Dam will get a shot at Del Rio's World Heavyweight Championship at Night of Champions. Just days before the event, Vickie Guerrero who was acting in authority, stated that Rodriguez would not be allowed at ringside for the title match at Night of Champions. He was also forced to wrestle Del Rio on SmackDown, and he lost. He wrestled under his El Local persona and lost to Sami Zayn on the September 25th edition of NXT. On October 7, he defeated Alberto Del Rio after he was distracted by Vickie Guerrero. He ended up being assaulted by his former boss afterwards. Rodriguez as El Local #1 teamed up with another competitor named El Local #2 (Tyson Kidd) as Los Locales on the October 11, edition of SmackDown, only to lose to the uprising tag team, Los Matadores. Rodriguez became a part of the Spanish announce team, but only in WWE pay-per-views in late 2013. Beginning in May, Rodriguez (as his masked persona, El Local) formed a tag team with a debuting masked wrestler named Kalisto on NXT. Rodriguez was released by WWE on July 30, 2014. Category:Managers Category:Current Alumni